Pryor can benefit from one more year outside oven
Dave Curtis
Tuesday, Jul. 28, 2009 - 7:51 p.m. ET
CHICAGO ? Ohio State tight end Jake Ballard had sat for 90 minutes now with hands folded and answers flowing. He had come to represent the Buckeyes before a few hundred media members.
But he ended up representing his most talented teammate, the player with the most potential in college football.
"Probably about half of them," Ballard said of the percentage of questions he fielded about sophomore QB Terrelle Pryor. "Wait, maybe more than that. I'd say 75 percent, actually. There's been a lot of that here."
Ballard has an easy draw compared to the seniors Ohio State will bring to these Big Ten media days next year (if typical OSU behavior holds, Pryor, a junior in 2010, will stay in Columbus). By then, they'll be dishing on Pryor, the heavy preseason Heisman Trophy favorite and the guy under more heat than anyone in college football.
Though Big Ten defenses know him all too well, Terrelle Pryor is still a year away from the national spotlight.
Pryor receives a pass this year from the Heisman/national title microwave ? the trio of Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow get that all to themselves. He can remain a curiosity for one more year, learning more about how to throw and when to run and maybe even scoring his first victory over a thriving powerhouse program.
But assuming the kid develops as most Buckeyes do, and assuming he continues to avoid injuries as if it's a defensive back in space, Pryor a year from now will lead the nation in popularity. And talent. And in receiving comments so full of praise that these words will seem like an insult.
"He's the most athletic guy we played against," Northwestern safety Brad Phillips said Tuesday. "He's big, fast, got a good arm. We brought a lot of pressure, and he made the plays we didn't make."
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